Silent movie child star Jackie Coogan
was born John Leslie Coogan Jr. on October 26th, 1914 in Los Angeles, California
to a show business family. His father, John H. Coogan, had been born in
Syracuse and worked in an apothecary and then in vaudeville as an actor
and dancer, and his mother had been a child star on the stage. Shortly
after Jackie's birth the Coogans went east and it was in New York that
Jackie made his first real appearance in the theater, at the age of four
years. At age five he began touring with his family in vaudeville shows.

Charles
Chaplin had long been planning a movie project called "The Kid", but
had kept postponing his film because he could not find the right child
actor to star opposite him. A friend of Chaplin's knew of his ambition
and thought of Jackie for the role. He brought Charlie down to the hotel
where the Coogans were staying and introduced young Jackie to him. Chaplin
was impressed and knew right away he had found the perfect youngster for
his movie. To test Jackie, Chaplin gave him a small role in his film "A
Day's Pleasure" (1919), which proved that he had star quality. They then
began filming Chaplin's "The Kid" (1921), a memorable film in which the
Little Tramp rescues and raises a street urchin named Jackie, eventually
losing him. The movie effectively combined both pathos and humor and was
a great success for Charlie and Jackie. Jackie went on to play a child
in a number of popular films in the 1920's, such as "Peck's Bad Boy" (1921),
"Oliver Twist" (1922) opposite
Lon
Chaney, and "The Rag Man" (1925 - recently restored and re-scored for
Turner Classic Movies), and he continued to tour with his father on the
stage. Although there were other child stars performing in films in the
1920's, Jackie's career and stardom were the most heavily promoted during
the decade. Magazines of the day depicted Jackie touring the world with
his father, Jackie at birthday parties, Jackie posing in front of his expensive
toys, his cars, his homes, etc. At the height of his career in the 1920's,
he was one of the most highly paid performers in Hollywood, earning millions
for the studios which hired him, including First National, Lesser, Universal,
M-G-M, and for his own production company set up by his parents, called
Jackie Coogan Productions.

By 1927, at the age of 13, Jackie Coogan had grown
up on the screen and his career was starting to wind down as he aged and
other child stars took hold of the public's fancy. He made sound versions
of "Tom Sawyer" (1930) and 'Huckleberry Finn" (1931), but these movies
were not as popular as his earlier films during the silent era. His personal
family life was about to be thrust into turmoil as well. His parents divorced
and his mother re-married Arthur Bernstein, who became Jackie's business
manager. In 1936, Jackie's father died, along with his best friend, in
a terrible automobile accident. Jackie had been in the car and was injured,
but recovered. When he came of age he naturally wanted the money which
he had earned making films as a child star, but his mother and his step-father
refused his request. Jackie filed suit against them for the four million
dollars that he had earned during those years. Under California Law at
the time he had no rights to the money he made as a child, and he was eventually
awarded only $126,000 in 1939! The public was outraged when they learned
of the situation, and the California Legislature was pressured to pass
the "Coogan Act", which would set up a trust fund for any child actor to
protect his earnings.